Tasting Life
by mattgerrard
Summary: A newcomer to Bon Temps falls in love with a friend he didn't know was a vampire.


I arrived at the barbecue at Arlene's just after sundown. At least I thought it was. The place was already packed with people from town and vampires. I thought I knew everybody, but there were a lot of new faces.

I drew a beeline for Sam and Lafayette. I knew they wouldn't steer me wrong.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey!"

"Glad you came, Russ. It really means a lot for this community."

"Yeah, well. Glad to be here. Where do I start?"

"Registration's over there. Check in, let people know your blood type, any issues, life habits they need to be aware of."

"What happens then?"

"Actually... I already know a vampire who I think would be perfect for you."

Lafayette smiled and clapped. "Yes, she is. Oh yes she is."

"Oh, God..." What were they setting me up for?

"Don't worry. Go check in."

"Then you need to go over there, grab a beer, eat some of my delicious barbecue. Put some meat on those skinny bones of yours."

I laughed. "All right."

I checked in with Tara and Arlene. There wasn't much to say. Blood type A positive, non-smoker, healthy lifestyle, age 30, low average body weight.

Lafayette's barbecue didn't disappoint. He had extra helpings of his secret sauce on the ribs. Arlene was serving up a new microbrew that tasted out of this world.

"Hi, Russ."

I turned around with a plate full of barbecue in my hand. It was Beverly, my favorite trainer from the gym. She looked lovely as usual, bright blue eyes, in a pretty summer dress instead of the black pants and T-shirt I was used to. Her red hair was loose over her shoulders. I realized I'd never seen her with her hair down.

"Hi, Bev!" I looked at my plate. "It's not healthy, I know. But it's good."

"It looks good. Are you here for the food or to donate?"

I took a deep breath. "Donate. I thought I'd do my part. With what Sam was saying, I thought it might be safer, too."

"Yeah. Probably." She stood next to me, looking at the crowd. I felt like I was at a high school dance. She took a breath too, and asked, "Have you talked to anyone yet?"

"About... oh, donating? No. I'm kinda nervous. I want... I hope I find someone nice. Sam said he'd help."

"He told me. What about me?"

I shrugged. "I'm sure he can help you, too."

"No, I mean, donating to me."

I stared at her. "What?"

"I'm a vampire."

I laughed. "Now you're messing with me."

Beverly opened her mouth. With a quiet click, two little fangs dropped down.

I literally dropped my beer.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry. I just... oh my God! I mean... you? Really?"

With another click they were gone, and she looked like my trainer again. "You sound surprised."

"Yeah, well... you do yoga."

Beverly laughed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, y'know, _prana_, life force..."

"We've got it too."

"I guess." I remembered that I'd splashed beer on her. "Hang on." I grabbed some napkins. I offered her the napkins but she declined. Maybe I just splashed beer on me. "Sorry about that."

"It's my fault. I wanted to see the look on your face."

"Were you disappointed?"

"It was priceless."

"Yeah, well. Look, I'm sorry about what I said. It's cool that you're a vampire. You just always seemed so alive."

"Thanks. And you seem so dead."

It sounded like an insult, but coming from Bev, I knew it wasn't. We were friends. "What does that mean?" I gestured toward a bench so we could sit. She followed me over.

"Thoughtful."

"Vampires are thoughtful?"

"The old ones are."

"Do you mind if I eat?"

"Can I have some of your chicken?"

"Yeah, sure." I remembered times we'd gone out for coffee as a group after boxing class. I'd seen her munching on biscotti. That had certainly thrown me off. I realized it had always been at night, and I'd never noticed her sweating. That explained that. "So you can eat real food."

"Not as much as you. You can swallow blood, too. It doesn't provide nutrition to me but I can appreciate how it tastes."

"Wow. Y'know what, I don't want to talk about vampy stuff. I like you better as just Beverly."

"Well, I'm both."

"I know, but I like you as you. You're not a... curiosity."

"Cool." She bit into a drumstick. "Mmm. These are good."

I chomped down on the corn on the cob. Bev and I smiled at each other. I'd had a bit of a teacher crush on her for a while. I never asked her out because I didn't want to lose my friend. This was going to... well, maybe it wouldn't change things.

"I did Crane in yoga the other day."

"Full Crane? Knees up under your armpits?"

"Yeah."

"Good job!"

"How's your book going?" Bev was working on a beginner's book for exercise.

"I finished another chapter last night."

We talked through dinner. I remembered why she was one of my favorite people in the world. I tried to look at it like she had a special blood condition like anemia and needed a donation. Which wasn't that far off, though I suppose it wasn't very sensitive of me not to just see her as she was. I just had a hard time imagining her being dead during the day. I wondered if she had a coffin or one of those vampire sleeping rooms that I heard about on TV.

I finished dinner. My heart beat faster as I looked at her and thought the usual "Now what?" that happens when you haven't planned a date. Was this a date? I felt warm. Bev took a breath. I wondered how much my flushed cheeks showed.

Sam and everyone planned a great party. There were humans and vampires everywhere, and for a change we were all getting along with each other. It felt really good.

But I wanted to have Bev all to myself. Like a date.

"So... this has been really nice. Do you want to... I don't know, go somewhere so that you can have a drink?" How else do you say it?

"I would love that." Bev hugged me.

I laughed. "What's this for?"

"I thought you needed it."

It didn't hurt. I imagined those fangs inches from my neck, but at this same time, this was Bev. I'd hugged her a dozen times. It would be okay.

We waved at Sam and Lafayette as we left. Sam raised his beer to us. Lafayette said, "Now, you be gentle with him, girl!"

"Hush, girlfriend. I'll see you in class on Saturday."

"Oh, I'll be there, sugar."

Bev lived in a loft apartment over her gym in downtown Bon Temps. She'd held parties for her customers there before. I'd been there. Where the heck did she hide her coffin? Maybe in the closet—standing up? I didn't ask. I was curious, but not that curious.

Bev invited me to sit. She went into her kitchen. She came back with wet nap packets, a few tissues, a glass of water, and a pack of breath mints. Her hair was tied back.

"You've got this down to a system."

"The water and the mints are just for guests. That way I don't have blood breath. Donors don't mind blood mouth so much, but I don't like looking that way if I can help it."

"What about your hair?"

"It can get in the way."

I trembled. I imagined splashing blood. I saw her more as a predator. "Do you ever lose control?"

"I won't."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

I took a breath. I laughed. "I feel like we should have candlelight or soft music or something."

"We could if you want. It's a pretty intimate experience when you're not just a donor."

My heart beat faster. I think she heard it. I saw her draw her breath again as soon as it happened. "That'd be nice," I said.

Bev lit a few candles, turned down the lights, and put on some soft R&B. My heart was beating faster. Bev swallowed as she sat down. I think my love nerves were making her thirsty. She settled in next to me.

"Okay. I'm ready."

I was still scared. I leaned close to her. I took her hand to remind her it was me, her friend, and please not to kill me. At the same time the idea of Bev's lips on me thrilled me beyond measure. I tilted my head to expose my neck.

Bev touched my hair. She eased into it. I felt her breath. She kissed my neck. She caressed my fingers. I smiled.

I felt her teeth brush my neck. I grinned—it felt like a gentle love bite. I thought she was going to keep going with it, play around, then I felt a gentle pinch. A sensation like hot water poured into a cool bath flowed out from my neck throughout my body.

"Oh. That's not bad."

It flowed more strongly as she kept drinking, rippling up and down my body. It felt like laying in the surf in the tropics, only you didn't have to wash off sand.

I chuckled. "That's kinda nice."

I sighed. I closed my eyes. The feeling rolled over me like waves. It reminded me of the warm, loose feeling of a good massage. Bev's teeth felt like little, tiny needles. I admit I liked the idea of her kissing me.

The feeling rolled over me again. The moment drew out.

"Oh, wow," I breathed.

I felt naked, even though I was fully clothed, and close to her heart, even though we were barely even holding each other. It felt like that spiritual moment after sex, when you're two souls as one. It felt like we held each other, skin to skin, warm, completely vulnerable and safe.

"Oh my God...," I whispered.

I held her hand close to me. I was scared. I'd never felt laid bare like this. I was happy, too. All the feelings I had for her came out. I'd been kidding myself, how long? I thought of the first time I saw Bev. Her smile that had made my heart skip a beat. Her kind touch to adjust my form. Her laughter.

The feeling crashed over me.

Beverly's lips felt like roses kissing my neck. The points of her teeth were stars, focused passion.

I heard her sigh.

I was hard. Of course I was hard. But it didn't feel like it mattered. What I already felt was closer than anything I could have imagined. I wanted to kiss her cheek—to kiss _her_—but I couldn't because she was busy drinking. All I could reach was her hand. I kissed it once, then when she didn't pull back, I kept kissing it.

_I love you. I love you. I love you._

She touched my face, then reached into my hair and caressed it while she drank. She sighed again.

I felt bathed in soothing fire. I gave myself up to it. I closed my eyes and became fire. I never felt so alive.

I don't know how much later, but she finished. I blinked. I breathed deep. The air felt cool in my nose. My body felt cool, like being naked and comfortable in a breath of winter. Bev kissed my neck again. She was probably taking the last few drops of blood.

Beverly kissed my cheek. I started to turn towards her, but she held my face away. "Don't look," she said. She touched my neck with her finger in two spots. I heard her tear open the wet nap. She must have wiped her face, then I felt her wipe my neck. "I don't want you to see me all bloody.

"Thanks. I guess I'll have to sooner or later."

"Not tonight."

"Okay." I wasn't feeling that brave anyway.

Beverly took away the trash. I looked at her as she sat down again. She looked like the same old Beverly, though I'd never look at her the same way again. My heart was wide, wide open. Bev drank the water, then popped two of the breath mints into her mouth. She undid her hair and shook it out. She smiled at me. "You never told me."

"Do you mean the kiss?"

"More than that. It's never that good unless you love the person drinking from you."

"Love?"

"Love. It's not just liquid protein. We're tasting a bit of your _prana_. You tasted like drinking light. My maker told me it would be better, but I didn't think it would be that good."

I blushed. "Really?"

"And stop blushing! All that blood is making me want to drink from you again."

"Well, shit. Guess my cards are on the table." She kept smiling at me. "You're my trainer. I didn't want to mess that up."

"Were you just never going to say anything?"

"If you dropped a hint that you were interested in me, I would have gone right for it. I figured you had a rule against dating your customers."

"It does work better that way."

"But it's true. You're an awesome, incredible, cool, fun, nice, spiritual, spirited, adventurous woman and I'm crazy about you. The only thing that kept me calm was keeping you at a distance."

She left her hand halfway between the two of us on the couch. I intertwined my fingers with hers. "So this is good?" I asked.

"Yes. This... is... awesome."

I leaned close to her and ran my fingers through her hair. We kissed. I guess I was dating a vampire.


End file.
